This morning, we packed up the trailer and started moving towards Sharon's nephew's house in La Grange, KY. Leaving Nashville, we passed a really neat old mansion. There have been certain places that we have visited, if the year-round weather were better and the kids/grandkids weren't so far away, we would like to live there. This was one of them. Nashville is so filled with history!

Nashville isn't too far from the Kentucky border. Soon, we crossed over the border into Kentucky. Our practice has been to stop at the first Visitors Center and pick up information and maps at each state we enter. After the stop, we headed towards Louisville. We noticed that almost immediately the grasslands changed to a rich bluish-green color. 
 
 

After turning onto one of the beltway freeways, old Big Red wouldn't accelerate properly. So, I pulled off on the shoulder. In the truck, there is a feature called "UConnect", so I pushed the "Assist" button and I was connected to a Mopar operator. She arranged a tow truck to take Big Red to a Dodge/RAM dealership for repairs. HOWEVER, the trailer was not covered under the towage agreement. So, we arranged for towage of the trailer to Sharon's nephew's house in La Grange, about 24 miles away.  

 

The next morning, we awoke to see the beautiful Kentucky countryside all around the Allen's house on the outskirts of La Grange, KY. The dogwoods were in bloom, spring flowers were out in full-force, a great time to walk the dogs. Well, Lael and Tami have a Great Dane name Dejlige, Sharon walked her and I walked Roxie What a pair!

 

I stayed at the house, but everyone else went to a European car show over in Jeffersonville, IN. Sharon and Tami parked at Louisville's waterfront park and walked across a foot bridge that crosses the Ohio River over to Jeffersonville. At the foot of Louisville's side of the bridge is a park with a statue of Abraham Lincoln. It was a wonderful tribute to the spirit of Lincoln ~ to his roots in Kentucky, his despair over the split in the Union over slavery and the subsequent civil war, and the terrible treatment and condition of the slaves. It was very impactful!

 

The following day, we were able to pick up Big Red from the dealership all repaired. A solenoid in the transmission had gone out and was repaired under the warranty. Sharon, Roxie and I took off to see historic Madison across the Ohio. It was a wonderful tour of a town that was built in the late 1800's. We had lunch in a restaurant that was on a barge, floating on the Ohio River. Kind of reminded me of my "shipping days"! Roxie was happy to sniff and water the grass on the waterfront park. Then we walked around to see the Visitors Center and the historic railroad museum. It was getting late and we needed to get back to La Grange, so we drove around to see some of the more popular historical buildings - we were not disappointed. This is a place to return to and do more exploring.

 

In the evening, Tami took Sharon, Roxie and I downtown Louisville so we could see the lighting of the Big Four Bridge. The city has installed a LED lighting system that lights up the bridge at night in solid lights, "moving lights" and also thematic lighting. The perfect end to a great day!